Cooler bag and wrap

ABSTRACT

A cooler bag and wrap is disclosed. In a particular embodiment, the cooler bag includes a pair of side panels and at least one pocket formed within each side panel. A plurality of fluid filled beads are contained within the pocket and are visible through an outside layer of the side panels to provide a distinctive appearance to the bag. In addition, the fluid within the beads is adapted to be frozen to keep contents of the bag cool. The bag may also include at least one baffle within the at least one pocket. The baffle helps to evenly disperse the beads and to prevent all the beads from collecting at the bottom of the bag.

I. FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to a cooler bag and wrap.

II. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

The ability to maintain a desired temperature of food and beverageswhile transporting has been accomplished in the past through the use ofvarious types of coolers. Typically, the coolers are fabricated usingsome type of insulating material so that when food and beverages areplaced within the cooler, the current temperature is maintained as longas possible. There are rigid side coolers and also flexible sidecoolers. In addition, often times ice or ice packs are added to theinside of the coolers to help maintain the desired temperature of thefood and beverages longer.

A disadvantage of using ice is that when it melts it can create a wetenvironment within the cooler. Ice packs have a disadvantage in thatthey contain a liquid that is frozen solid so that the ice pack does notcontour around a bottle or other contents within the cooler to providethe most efficient thermal transfer. In addition, coolers are ratherbland in appearance. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a coolerthat is aesthetically appealing and easily contours around the contentsof the cooler while at the same time does not create a messy and wetresidue during use.

A wrap, generally known as a koozie, is used to maintain a cooltemperature of a single bottle or beverage can. They typically use aflexible insulating layer that is formed into a shape of can, so thatthe can (or bottle) may be slid into the koozie. In use, a person's handholding the koozie is insulated from transferring the heat of theperson's hand to the beverage can or bottle. Although the koozie doeshave some thermal insulating properties, the koozie does not have anycooling properties. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a wrapthat has the ability to not only insulate a can or bottle, but also isaesthetically appealing and cools a beverage can or bottle.

III. SUMMARY

In a particular embodiment, a cooler bag is disclosed. The bag includesa pair of side panels and at least one pocket formed within each sidepanel. A plurality of fluid filled beads are contained within the pocketand are visible through an outside layer of the side panels to provide adistinctive appearance to the bag. In addition, the fluid within thebeads is adapted to be chilled to keep contents of the bag cool. The bagmay also include at least one baffle within the side panels. The bafflehelps to evenly disperse the beads and to prevent all the beads fromcollecting at the bottom of the bag. A pair of end panels are securedadjacent to opposing edges of each side panel and may also include fluidfilled beads. A bottom panel is used to form the bag with the pair ofside panels and the pair of end panels. Similar to the side panels, thebottom panel may also include the beads. A handle is disposed proximatea top portion of the bag and is used to carry the bag and contents ofthe bag.

In another particular embodiment, a cooler wrap is disclosed. The wrapincludes at least one translucent panel and at least one pocket formedwithin the at least one panel. A plurality of fluid filled decorativebeads are contained within the at least one pocket. The wrap may alsoinclude at least one baffle within the panel to keep the beads evenlydispersed within the wrap. Opposing free ends of the at least one panelare secured to one another to form the panel into a tubular enclosure.Alternatively, the wrap may include fasteners at opposing free ends ofthe at least one panel, such as hook and loop, where the fasteners areadapted to removably secure the wrap around a bottle or other object.The wrap may also include a bottom panel secured to edges along a lowerperiphery of the tubular enclosure. A resealable top opening of thepocket of the wrap may be used to add and remove all or some portion ofthe plurality of beads, where the plurality of beads are adapted to bechilled and are visible within the pocket.

One particular advantage provided by embodiments of the cooler bag andwrap is that the beads provide a dual purpose of cooling the contents ofthe bag or wrap while providing an attractive appearance. The beads alsohave the advantage of being able to conform around contours of thecontents, such as a bottle, even while the beads are frozen. Incontrast, cooling packs filled with frozen liquid are inflexible andcannot contour around an object, such as a bottle, as the beads of thecooler bag and wrap.

Other aspects, advantages, and features of the present disclosure willbecome apparent after review of the entire application, including thefollowing sections: Brief Description of the Drawings, DetailedDescription, and the Claims

IV. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a side panel of a particularillustrative embodiment of a cooler bag;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of an end panel of the particularillustrative embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the particular illustrative embodiment of thecooler bag;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the particular illustrative embodiment of thecooler bag;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view along line 5-5 of FIG. 1 of the sidepanel and pocket of the cooler bag;

FIG. 6 is a front view of one of a plurality of fluid filled beadscontained within the side panel and the pocket of the cooler bag;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view along line 7-7 of FIG. 6 of one of thefluid filled beads;

FIG. 8 is a front view of the particular illustrative embodiment of thecooler with alternating end panels and side panels in a flat position;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view along line 9-9 of FIG. 8 of the endpanels and side panels showing the pockets and baffles within the sidepanels;

FIG. 10 is an elevational view of a particular illustrative embodimentof a cooler wrap for use with a wine bottle; and

FIG. 11 is an elevational view of a particular illustrative embodimentof an alternative embodiment of the cooler wrap for use with a beveragecan.

V. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a particular illustrative embodiment of a coolerbag is disclosed and generally designated 100. The bag 100 includes apair of side panels 106 where at least one pocket 114 is formed withineach side panel 106. A plurality of fluid filled beads 116 are containedwithin the at least one pocket 114 and are visible through an outsidelayer of the side panels 106 to provide a distinctive appearance to thebag 100. The fluid 120 within the beads 116 is adapted to be chilled andfrozen to keep contents of the bag 100 cool. The bag 100 may alsoinclude at least one baffle 108 within the side panel 106.

The bag 100 also includes a pair of end panels 112, as shown in FIG. 2,where each end panel 112 is adjacent to opposing edges of each sidepanel 106 to form the bag 100. The pair of end panels 112 may alsoinclude fluid filled beads similar to that of the side panels 106.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a bottom panel 110 is used to form therectangular shaped bag with the pair of side panels 106 and the pair ofend panels 112. However, the bag may have any shape such as round,triangular, or diamond, for example. A handle 102 disposed proximate atop portion 104 of the bag 100 may be used to carry the bag 100 andcontents of the bag, such as wine bottle. In the preferred embodiment,the side panels 106, end panels 112 and bottom panel 110 are comprisedof a flexible material.

The beads 116 may be any shape such as diamond, square, star, forexample, but in the preferred embodiment the beads are spherical inshape. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the beads 116 each include a flexibleouter layer to contain the fluid 120 therein. Even when the fluid 120 isfrozen, the outer layer 118 remains relatively soft and pliable.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the cooler bag 100 is shown with alternatingend panel 112 and side panel 106. The end panels 112 are shown withoutany beads 116. However, in alternative embodiments, the end panels 112may also contain the beads 116.

A cross sectional view of the bag 100 shows the pockets 114 that areformed within the side panels 106 to contain the beads 116. The baffles108 are used to divide the side panel 106 and serve to keep the beads116 from all collecting at the bottom of the panel 106 or mixing.

In another embodiment, a cooler wrap is disclosed as shown in FIG. 9.The wrap uses a similar configuration to the cooler bag 100, in thatpanels are used to contain beads 116. However, instead of connecting thepanels together to form a bag, the wrap consists of adjacent panels 124,where each panel 124 contains beads 116. Baffles 108 are used to keepthe beads 116 relatively in place and to prevent mixing. This isadvantageous as the beads may be colored and have aesthetic appeal. Thebeads 116 may be installed within the panel 124 to provide a desiredcolor effect. Also, the panels 124 are translucent so that the beads 116are visible from the outside. The wrap is preferable of a flexiblematerial so that it can easily be wrapped around an object such as awine bottle. The beads 116 are adapted to be chilled and frozen. Thebaffle(s) 108 of the bag 100 and wrap are generally orientatedlongitudinally within the panels in the preferred embodiment. The wrapalso includes fasteners 122 at opposing free ends of the at least onepanel 124, where the fasteners 122 are adapted to removably secure thewrap around a bottle, for example. The fasteners 122 may be hook andloop, buttons, zippers, or snaps, for example.

Referring now to FIG. 11, opposing free ends of the at least one panel126 are secured to one another to form the panel 126 into a tubularenclosure or commonly known as a koozie, which is generally used to keepa beverage can 128 cool. A bottom panel may be secured to edges along alower periphery of the tubular enclosure. Similar to that of the bag andwrap described above, the tubular enclosure includes beads 116 andbaffles 108 within the panels 126.

In addition to that described above, the bag, wrap and cooler may alsoinclude a resealable top opening that is adapted to add and remove allor some portion of the plurality of beads 116.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosedembodiments. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the principles defined hereinmay be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope ofthe disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to belimited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widestscope possible consistent with the principles and novel features asdefined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cooler bag, the bag comprising: a pair of sidepanels; at least one pocket formed within each side panel; and aplurality of fluid filled beads within the at least one pocket that arevisible through an outside layer of the side panels to provide adistinctive appearance to the bag; wherein the fluid within the beads isadapted to be chilled to keep contents of the bag cool.
 2. The coolerbag of claim 1, the bag further comprising at least one baffle withinthe side panels.
 3. The cooler bag of claim 2, the bag furthercomprising a pair of end panels, wherein each end panel is adjacent toopposing edges of each side panel.
 4. The cooler bag of claim 3, whereinthe pair of end panels further comprising the plurality of fluid filledbeads.
 5. The cooler bag of claim 3, the bag further comprising a bottompanel to form the bag with the pair of side panels and the pair of endpanels.
 6. The cooler bag of claim 5, the bag further comprising ahandle disposed proximate a top portion of the bag, the handle adaptedto carry the bag and contents of the bag.
 7. The cooler bag of claim 6,wherein the side, end and bottom panels are comprised of a flexiblematerial.
 8. The cooler bag of claim 7, wherein the beads each furthercomprise a flexible outer layer to contain the fluid therein.
 9. Thecooler bag of claim 8, wherein the beads are spherical in shape.
 10. Acooler wrap, the wrap comprising: at least one translucent panel; atleast one pocket formed within the at least one panel; and a pluralityof fluid filled beads within the at least one pocket.
 11. The coolerwrap of claim 10, the wrap further comprising at least one baffle withinthe side panel.
 12. The cooler wrap of claim 10, wherein the wrap iscomprised of a flexible material.
 13. The cooler wrap of claim 10,wherein the beads each further comprise a flexible outer layer tocontain the fluid therein.
 14. The cooler wrap of claim 10, wherein thebeads are spherical in shape.
 15. The cooler wrap of claim 10, whereinthe fluid within the beads is adapted to be chilled and frozen.
 16. Thecooler wrap of claim 11, wherein the at least one baffle is orientatedlongitudinally within the wrap.
 17. The cooler wrap of claim 12, whereinopposing free ends of the at least one panel are secured to one anotherto form the panel into a tubular enclosure.
 18. The cooler wrap of claim12, the wrap further comprising fasteners at opposing free ends of theat least one panel, wherein the fasteners are adapted to removablysecure the wrap around a bottle.
 19. The cooler wrap of claim 17,further comprising a bottom panel secured to edges along a lowerperiphery of the tubular enclosure.
 20. A cooler wrap, the wrapcomprising: a translucent planar pocket; a plurality of decorative beadsdisposed within the pocket; a resealable top opening adapted to add andremove all or some portion of the plurality of beads; wherein theplurality of beads are adapted to be chilled and visible within thepocket.